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Making laowai feel at home with schools, services
October 13, 2010, Wednesday
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AS it attracts foreign business, Hangzhou also becomes home to around 100,000 foreign residents and many city services are meeting their needs and making them feel at home.
The 100,000 foreign residents also means families and children, so services range from convenient shopping malls and English-language road signs to an international school and other facilities for children.
The Hangzhou International School opened in 2001 in Binjiang District and it's the city's only international school. It accepts students from pre-school through 12th grade.
The campus shares grounds of the highly respected Hangzhou No. 2 Middle School. It features Western-style fully equipped classrooms, various state-of-the-art computer labs and science labs, playing fields and courts, a new gymnasium and a library.
Enrollment has increased from 15 students in 2001 to more than 300 from 40 nationalities today.
"It's the Hangzhou International School that helps put Hangzhou on the international map," said Principal Robert van der Eyken.
The school is like a mini United Nations and children of different races and nationalities share classes, toys and play together with ease.
"Kids appear more united here. When people are different, they accept others," explained van der Eyken.
It's not only the kids but also their parents who are making friends at the school.
The Hangzhou International School supports a Parents and Friends (PAFA) program, providing parents with Chinese language classes, parties, sports meetings and other activities that enable them to mix.
Lisa Stiller from Italy has two boys studying at HIS. The family arrived seven years ago for the husband's work as a factory manager. Now she knows a lot of other mothers with kids in the same school.
"The school is a perfect place to meet and talk with other mothers, and this gives me a lot of information and eases social interactions," Siller said.
In addition to HIS, there are more than 50 elementary schools accepting foreign students in Hangzhou.
The Hangzhou Japanese School in Xiasha District is a kindergarten-to-ninth-grade school exclusively for Japanese kids of parents working in Hangzhou.
Different learning
It's well known that education is grueling for Chinese children, especially before college, as getting into a top college is their major goal. There's a strict teaching system and students are loaded with homework and special enrichment classes. All of this is considered necessary to help them pass the National College Entrance Examination in June each year.
But for students in international schools, there's less pressure and more emphasis on learning for its own sake and problem solving. Most will have the SAT for college, not the Chinese exam.
At HIS, all students learn Chinese language and culture, but expat children are taught in English by foreign teachers following the American format and offering Advanced Placement courses. The classes are small, each often less than 15 students, so all get individual attention. This is different from Chinese-style education in big classrooms.
Liu Xuan, a 12-year-old girl from Taiwan, has spent six years in a regular primary school in Hangzhou. This year she switched to the international school and the difference was immediately apparent.
"The math in grade six in the international school I had already learned in grade four in Chinese school," said Liu. "But I have to work hard in English to match the other students' level."
"Teachers in Chinese schools are much stricter," she said. "If you talk or are absent-minded in class, you will be punished."
Homework for the international school is also lighter. Using the principle that one grade level is equivalent to 10 minutes of homework, a student in grade 12 usually has around two hours of homework, about half of her peers at local schools.
At the international school, there's optional homework for small children that Chinese are not familiar with - such as help your parents with housework, walk your dog, or get close to nature.
"Kids may not grow up to be scientists or professors, but they will be someone's husbands, wives, or parents," said van der Eyken, "and it is imperative for them to learn how to cope with social life."
The 100,000 foreign residents also means families and children, so services range from convenient shopping malls and English-language road signs to an international school and other facilities for children.
The Hangzhou International School opened in 2001 in Binjiang District and it's the city's only international school. It accepts students from pre-school through 12th grade.
The campus shares grounds of the highly respected Hangzhou No. 2 Middle School. It features Western-style fully equipped classrooms, various state-of-the-art computer labs and science labs, playing fields and courts, a new gymnasium and a library.
Enrollment has increased from 15 students in 2001 to more than 300 from 40 nationalities today.
"It's the Hangzhou International School that helps put Hangzhou on the international map," said Principal Robert van der Eyken.
The school is like a mini United Nations and children of different races and nationalities share classes, toys and play together with ease.
"Kids appear more united here. When people are different, they accept others," explained van der Eyken.
It's not only the kids but also their parents who are making friends at the school.
The Hangzhou International School supports a Parents and Friends (PAFA) program, providing parents with Chinese language classes, parties, sports meetings and other activities that enable them to mix.
Lisa Stiller from Italy has two boys studying at HIS. The family arrived seven years ago for the husband's work as a factory manager. Now she knows a lot of other mothers with kids in the same school.
"The school is a perfect place to meet and talk with other mothers, and this gives me a lot of information and eases social interactions," Siller said.
In addition to HIS, there are more than 50 elementary schools accepting foreign students in Hangzhou.
The Hangzhou Japanese School in Xiasha District is a kindergarten-to-ninth-grade school exclusively for Japanese kids of parents working in Hangzhou.
Different learning
It's well known that education is grueling for Chinese children, especially before college, as getting into a top college is their major goal. There's a strict teaching system and students are loaded with homework and special enrichment classes. All of this is considered necessary to help them pass the National College Entrance Examination in June each year.
But for students in international schools, there's less pressure and more emphasis on learning for its own sake and problem solving. Most will have the SAT for college, not the Chinese exam.
At HIS, all students learn Chinese language and culture, but expat children are taught in English by foreign teachers following the American format and offering Advanced Placement courses. The classes are small, each often less than 15 students, so all get individual attention. This is different from Chinese-style education in big classrooms.
Liu Xuan, a 12-year-old girl from Taiwan, has spent six years in a regular primary school in Hangzhou. This year she switched to the international school and the difference was immediately apparent.
"The math in grade six in the international school I had already learned in grade four in Chinese school," said Liu. "But I have to work hard in English to match the other students' level."
"Teachers in Chinese schools are much stricter," she said. "If you talk or are absent-minded in class, you will be punished."
Homework for the international school is also lighter. Using the principle that one grade level is equivalent to 10 minutes of homework, a student in grade 12 usually has around two hours of homework, about half of her peers at local schools.
At the international school, there's optional homework for small children that Chinese are not familiar with - such as help your parents with housework, walk your dog, or get close to nature.
"Kids may not grow up to be scientists or professors, but they will be someone's husbands, wives, or parents," said van der Eyken, "and it is imperative for them to learn how to cope with social life."
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